A Whole New World

A whole new world was just opened to my son last Monday...he's just had his first taste of solid food!

Of course, if you look at his food, one really wonders what there is to be rejoicing about...after all, it's just watery rice cereal that tastes like...well, watery cereal. But looking at his expression after taking his first spoonful, he might as well have been eating creme brulee -- he was just so ecstatic!

He's now on his fourth day of solids, so I gave him a treat and let him try some squash. What's nice about my son, I'm discovering, is that he's not afraid to try new food. I've read a lot of times in several write-ups that mommies have to brace themselves to the reality that most kids don't like new food. They further said that this is especially normal in babies who are just beginning to eat. So here I am, prepared for my son to spit up his first few bites and for his little tummy to start acting up on the new things that are making their way in...luckily, our experience was the exact opposite.

My son couldn't have been any more angelic than in those moments when I was offering him spoonfuls of baby food! What's more, his tummy didn't have any adverse reactions to the newly-introduced food. I'm just praying that my son (and his tiny tummy) will continue on with the good behavior.

So now I'm thinking of all the exciting things to feed his growing appetite: apples, pears, bananas, peas, sweet potatoes, carrots, chicken...I don't know who's more excited, me or my son!

This morning, after I've fed him his squash and was watching him take a bath in his tub (another thing he truly enjoys), I was left in awe of his ability to find the most intense pleasure in the simplest things: the splash of the water on his tiny fingers, the texture of the baby food on his little mouth, the funny sound from his rubber duckie...things like that. It's just wonderful to be in touch with another human being with emotions so pure, so eager, so open, that it makes me think...it's not just my son who's experiencing a whole new world right now.

He just opened an entire horizon for me.